Protective shipping case



April 3, 1956 E. B. KINCAID PROTECTIVE SHIPPING CASE File d May 17, 1952fnz/enz r 15671 5. Kincaid rnorncrlvn SHEPPING CASE Elbert B. Kincaid,Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Container- Corporation of America,Chicago, lli., a corporation of Delaware Application May 17, 1952,Serial No. 288,419

3 Claims. (Cl. zen-e2 The present invention relates to shipping casesand more particularly to an improved protective shipping case or packagefor frangible articles of sheet form and of considerable extent, as forexample plate glass sheets or the like.

The improved shipping case comprising the present invention has beendesigned primarily for the packaging and shipping of automobileWindshields, many of which are of curvilinear one-piece construction.is, however, capable of other uses and the same may, if desired, with orwithout modification, be employed for the packaging of other articles ofsheet form whether the same be curvilinear or planar.

The packaging and shipping of plate glass articles, particularly thosehaving considerable surface extent, has always presented certaindifficulties, principal among which has been not only the difficulty ofprotecting the article from damage, but also the danger presented by thepackaged article when handling the same. Articles such as windshieldglass and other comparatively massive plate glass articles, whethercurved or planar, are relatively heavy and the edges, and particularlythe corners thereof, constitute projections which render the packagedarticle diflicult of handling and which also are hazardous. Due to therelatively heavy weight of articles of this character, and due to thefact that frequently it is found necessary or expedient to position thepackage so that the article stands on edge, there is a tendency for theedge of the article to cut or break through the material of the packageand thus become exposed. Sometimes in the handling of the package byinexperienced handlers, the package is positioned so that the entireweight thereof rests on one corner, as for example when the package iswalked on adjacent corners. This type of handling frequently results ina sutficiently great thrust on the material of the package by the sharpcorner of the plate glass article so that the corner cuts through thematerial of the package and becomes exposed and thus liable to breakageas well as presenting a hazard to further handling of the package.

The present invention is designed to overcome the above notedlimitations that are attendant upon conventional packaging of articlesof this character and, toward this end, it contemplates the provision ofa relatively simple and inexpensive packing case for such articles whichwill protect the articles from shocks as well as preventing the casefrom becoming ruptured when such shocks are encountered.

The provision of a packing and shipping case of the character brieflyoutlined above being among the principal objects of the invention, afurther object is to provide such a case in which protective cushioningmeans are provided for both sides of the article while at the same timethe latter is positioned Within the case in such a manner that the sharpedges and corners thereof are maintained an appreciable distance fromthe sides of the package as a whole.

The invention "ited States Pat 9 ice Another object of the invention isto provide a shipping case of this character in which the protectivecushioning means referred to above is coextensive with the oppositefaces of the article and in intimate contact therewith and also in whichthe peripheral edges of the article are Yet another object of theinvention, in the packaging.

of curved articles of sheet form for shipment, is to provide a shippingcase which affords adequate protection for the article, as well as forthe persons handling the packaged article, yet one which is of a sizeand shape that does not materially exceed the overall volumetricdisplacement of the unpackaged article. Because of this latter feature,the packaged article consumes but little storage space and a greaternumber of the articles may be stored in a given fioor of shelf space.

The provision of a packing and shipping case for glass articles of sheetform, whether curved or otherwise, which may be constructed from arelatively few pieces of paperboard stock in flat blank form and whichtherefore is economical from the point of view of manufacturing costs;one which is easily set up on the article undergoing packaging and whichmay be secured in its set up condition by a stitch stapling process; onewhich is capable of easy removal from the article during unpacking ofthe latter;

one which will accommodate articles of different 'dimensions withinfairly wide limits; and one which otherwise is Well adapted to performthe services required of it, are further desiderata that have been bornein mind in the production and development of the present invention.

In the accompanying single sheet of drawing forming a part of thisspecification, one embodiment of the in vention has been shown.

in the drawing:

Fig. l is a bottom plan view of an inner package unit or articlesuspension assembly constructed in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention and showing the same applied to an article, which, forillustrative purposes, is in the form of a curvilinear sheet of glass.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of Fig.l with the article in upright position. In this view certain parts havebeen broken away to more clearly reveal the nature of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a top blank employed in connection with theinvention, and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a bottom blank employed in connection with theinvention.

Referring now to the drawing in detail and particularly to Figs. 1, 2and 3, an article-supporting assembly or inner package unit isdesignated in its entirety at 10 and is adapted to substantially encloseand support an article such as the illustrated sheet of glass 12 whichmay be a curvilinear automobile windshield or the like. The assembly orunit ltl, when applied to the article 12 is generally H-shape intransverse cross section, consisting as it does of vertical side members14 and 15 and a connecting article-enclosing and supporting envelope 16of two-piece construction the nature and function of which will be madeclear presently. The entire assembly 10 is adapted" to be enclosedwithin an outer container or shell such as is indicated at 13 in Fig. 3by the dash-dot line and which may be of more or less conventionalrectilinear design, the assembly being positioned in the shell with apair of side wall pads 20 onthe opposite sides thereof.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the shipping package as a whole, with thearticle disposed therein, is generally flat rectilinear design, which isto say, it comprises a Patented Apr. 3, 1956;

3 six-sided structure longer than it is wide and having relativelylittle thickness. The package may be positioned for storage purposes onany one of its sides or edges but for reference purposes to facilitatethe description, it may be considered as resting on a major face so thatits thickness becomes its height and with the curvilinear article boweddownwardly as shown in Fig. 2.

The supporting envelope 16 is comprised of a bottom protective coveringor liner 22 and a top protective covering or liner 24, the two linershaving opposed inner faces which are coextensive with the underneath andtop surfaces respectively of the article 12 and which serve tosubstantially enclose the article therebetween in sandwich fashion.

The bottom liner 22 is formed from the blank 26 shown in Fig. and iscomprised of a single sheet of paperboard material which may be ofcorrugated paperboard stock. The blank 26 is rectangular in form and isslotted inwardly of its peripheral edge at spaced regions to provide aseries of voids 28 representing a definite removal of some of thepaperboard material thus to form a series of flaps or tongues whichextend outwardly around the periphery of the blank. The slots 23 providefour corner spacer tongues 39; four foldable flaps 32 along thelongitudinal sides of the blank; two foldable flaps 34 on the transverseends of the blank, and a pair of non-foldable spacer tongues 36 on thesides of the blank. The overall dimensions of the blank 26 are somewhatgreater than the corresponding overall dimensions of the sheet article12 so that when the blank is fitted or placed against the underneathconcave face of the article as shown in Fig. 2, the foldable flaps 32and 34 will to a greater or lesser extent overlap the peripheral edge ofthe article. With the blank 26 thus in position, the fiaps 32 and 34 maybe folded or'reversed upon themselves along a convenient fold lineestablished in the vicinity of the edges of the article and about theadjacent edge of the article thus to center or fix the article relativeto the blank 26.

The folding of the blank 26 on the article 12 in the manner justdescribed is not an exact process or operation and the article need notbe exactly centered upon the blank with precise measurement. Theoperator will bend the flaps 32 and 34 over the peripheral edge of thearticle as best suits his initial fitting of the article on the face ofthe blank. While it is possible to fold the flaps 32 or 34 on an anglebias to more intimately encase the edges of the article, if thecorrugations of the paperboard material run longitudinally of the blankit will be more convenient to fold the flaps perpendicular to the edgesof the blank and thus not fold across the individual flutes 0f thecorrugations. Irrespective however of the manner of folding of the flaps32 and 34, the essential features of the invention are not altered.

The top liner 24 is formed from the blank 38 of Fig. 4 and is-comprisedof a single sheet of material which,'like the blank 26, may be ofcorrugated paperboard stock. The blank-isrectangular in form and isslotted inwardly as at 40 around the peripheral edge thereof with theslots involving a definite removal of some of the paperboard material.The slots 40 provide therebetween a series of upwardly bendableattachment tabs 42 and downwardly bendable tabs 44 with the tabs onopposite longitudinal sides of the blank being designed for attachmentto the two vertical side members 14 and 15 respectively in a manner thatwill be made clear presently. A pair of foldlines 46 are provided in theblank 38 transversely thereof adjacent to the ends of the blank andthese fold lines provide a pair of end strips 38 and small attachmenttabs 50 at the corners of the blank.

The overall dimensions of the blank 38 are greater than those of theblank 26 and the blank 38 is positioned over the upper convex surface ofthe article as shown in Fig. 1 so that all of the tabs 42, 4-4 and 56lie completely over (beyond) the peripheral edge of the article 12 aswell as. over (beyond) the extreme peripheral edge of the underlyingblank 26 when the latter is folded upon the article in the mannerpreviously described. With the blank 38 thus positioned over thearticle, the projecting non-foldable tongues 30 and 36 may be stapled orotherwise attached to the body of the blank 38 as indicated Thetransverse strips 43 are adapted to be folded downwardly and around thetransverse ends of the lower or underneath liner 22 as shown in Figs. 1and 3 and secured in folded position by staples 52 which thus passthrough the two thicknesses of the material of the blank 38 and throughthe corner tongues 34 of the blank 26.

At this stage in the assembly of the shipping case on the article 12,the two linerrs 22 and 24 are positioned in enclosing relation about thearticle so that the latter is substantially concealed between the twoliners. The envelope 16, which is comprised of the two assembled liners22 and 24 may then be secured to the two vertical side members 14 and 15by bending the attachment tabs 42 upwardly as viewed in Fig. 2 and bybending the attachment tabs 44 downwardly and attaching these tabs 42and 44 to the inner faces of the side members 34 and 15 with staples 52.

It is to be noted that the small corner tab 50 on the blank 38 willoverlie the attachment tabs 42 when the strips 48 are first folded overthe transverse edges of the blank 26. These corner tabs 50 may thus befolded with the attachment tabs which they overlie and stapled therewithto the vertical side members 14 and 15 as shown in Fig. 2.

With the envelope 16 thus enclosing the article 12 and secured totheside members 14 and 15, the whole constitutes an inner protectivecushioning unit for supporting the article within an outer carton shellsuch as the rectangular shell 18 which is shown in dotted lines andwhich may be of conventional design. The side wall pads or liners 29 maybe employed if desired to maintain the various fastening devices orstaples 52 from binding against the walls of the shell during insertionof the cushioning unit into or removal of the same from the outer shell.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification asvarious changes in the details of'construction may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit of the invention. The invention istherefore intended to be limited only as required by the wording of theaccompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, an article of sheet form and a shipping case for sucharticle comprising, a two-piece envelope for the article comprising apair of generally rectangular paperboard liner members having opposedinner faces coextensive with the opposite faces of the articleandpositioned with one member on each side of the article to sandwichthe article therebctween, and at least one bendable flap formed alongeach of the peripheral edges of one of said liner members by spacedslots extending inwardly of the member from such edges, said flaps beingfolded around the peripheral edge of the article and extending inwardlyof said edge of the article and having a portion thereof positionedbetween the article and the inner face of the other liner member forretaining the article against shitting movement relative to the linermember on which the flaps are formed, said one liner member also havingspaced peripheral flaps extending rigidly outward beyond the articleedges, the other of said liner members having a greater overall extentbetween one pair of relatively opposite edges thereof than between thecorresponding edges of the other liner and being secured in face-to-facerelation to some of said rigidly extending iiaps, said other linermember having end portions along its other pair of relatively oppositeedges, said end portions bein folded'around the corresponding edges ofthe other liner and against the outer face of such other liner andsecured to the outer face of the latter.

2. In combination, an article such as a curved glass window and apaperboard shipping case for such article comprising, an inner packagingassembly including a generally fiat envelope of rectangular outline forthe article and a pair of flat side members extending generally at rightangles to the general plane of the envelope and secured thereto alongopposite edges thereof, said envelope comprising a pair of spaced andgenerally parallel liner members, said liner members having opposedinner faces each at least coextensive with the correspondingly adjacentfaces of the article and positioned to sandwich the articletherebetween, one of said liner members having at least one pair ofsubstantially parallel spaced cuts extending inward from each edgethereof to provide a flap between each such pair of cuts, each of suchflaps being folded around the peripheral edge of the article andprojecting between the article and the inner face of the other linermember, each of said liner members having edge portions extendingoutward beyond the peripheral edge of the article, staples securing saidedge portion of the liners together in face-to-face contact, a series ofspaced attachment tabs formed on the outward extending portions of theother liner member along one pair of opposite edge margins and extendingsubstantially at right angles to the general plane of the envelope, andstaples securing said attachment tabs to the medial regions of said sidemembers, a portion of said other liner member along each of its otherpair of opposite edge margins being folded and secured over an adjacentedge margin of said one liner member.

3. In combination, an article such as a curved glass window and apaperboard shipping case for such article comprising, an inner packagingassembly including a generally flat envelope of rectangular outline forthe article and a pair of flat side members extending generally at rightangles to the general plane of the envelope and secured thereto alongopposite edges thereof, said envelope comprising a pair of spaced andgenerally parallel liner members, said liner members having opposedinner faces each at least coextensive with the correspondingly adjacentfaces of the article and positioned to sandwich the articletherebetween, one of said liner members having at least one pair ofsubstantially parallel spaced cuts extending inward from each edgethereof to provide a flap between each such pair of cuts, each of suchflaps being folded around the peripheral edge of the article andprojecting between the article and the inner face of the other linermember, each of said liner members having edge portions extendingoutward beyond the peripheral edge of the article, staples securing saidedge portions of the liners together in facc-to-face contact, a seriesof spaced attachment tabs formed on the outward extending portions ofthe other liner member along one pair of opposite edge margins andextending substantially at right angles to the general plane of theenvelope, and staples securing said attachment tabs to the medialregions of said side members, a portion of said other liner member alongeach of its other pair of opposite edge margins being folded and securedover an adjacent edge margin of said one liner member, said other linermember having corner tabs integral with the opposite ends of said foldedmargin portions, said corner tabs being secured to the respectivelyadjacent side members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS950,851 Hunt et al. Mar. 1, 1910 965,254 Thomsen July 26, 1910 1,406,939Currie Feb. 14, 1922 1,676,238 Batty July 10, 1928 2,034,358 SchleicherMar. 17, 1936 2,105,086 Liskin Jan. 11, 1938 2,177,241 Burack Oct. 24,1939 2,553,418 Loth May 15, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 260,808 Great BritainNov. 11, 1926

